No particular theme today as my brain feels about as foggy as the thick air here on Cape Cod this morning. Just rambling. Hope this makes sense. Anyway….

It’s no surprise but the thick, humid air has done what it does to my beautiful Martins: made them sound dull and lifeless. I know their souls are lurking in there somewhere but it takes a bit of extra effort to grab one and play when I know it won’t sound like it can. Remind me of this complaint next winter when my guitars sound wonderful but it’s sub zero outside and my frozen hands refuse to move very fast on the strings and neck.

My precious granddaughters and daughter are visiting and we’ve had lots of fun making music or at least making something resembling musical sounds. The older one, Clara, is almost three years old and loves making up new words to songs. Her latest is a take-off on “My Favorite Things” in which we list Clara’s favorite things like ice cream, carousels and the beach. She loves to bang away on her small xylophone that I bought for her and also the ukulele. Her mother thinks it is time to get a bit more “serious” about playing those things in terms of learning notes and such but I tell her there’s no rush. The joy of making music at that age needs to be nurtured and be fun without any undue stress. This is something that all parents are a bit guilty of when a child expresses interest in music. When someone asks me about how early a kid should start playing the guitar I avoid giving them an answer and remind them that Eric Clapton didn’t even start playing until he was 12 years old. There’s plenty of time.

As I’ve mentioned here before, in the last decade virtually all my students have been adults and I do not take students under the age of ten. Recently I had some instances that reminded me that this is a good policy.

I had a boy about 12 years old start lessons about a month ago. I suspected from the get-go that this was nothing more than a way to give him something to do over the summer but agreed to give him a chance. In spite of my instructions before his first lesson that he should bring an acoustic guitar he showed up at the first lesson with a $400+ electric (and did for his second lesson too, in spite of reminding the person who brought him that he should bring an acoustic, which he did have access to). It was obvious from moment one that he expected me to wave a magic wand over his head and make him into a guitar player with no effort on his part. I have strategies to divest a youngster of that assumption and explained to him that he HAD to practice the relatively easy stuff I gave him – and I knew he could play with a tiny bit of effort. At the second lesson, two weeks after his first one, it was immediately obvious that he hadn’t practiced at all.

In my advancing years I readily admit I’m a bit crankier than I was years ago but this kid needed to hear the truth: that he was wasting his grandparents’ money and my time if he was not willing to practice. And this bears repeating: what I gave him was not difficult but would have sounded at least a bit inspiring with a minimal amount of effort. During that second lesson he sat there with a sneer on his face and basically refused to focus on the playing. I told him to go home and decide what he wanted to do and to have his grandparents email me with the answer.

As I knew would happen, I received an email stating that it “wasn’t a good fit” and that he would not be continuing. No surprise there, although I did bristle a bit at the “good fit” comment, which implied that I had somehow failed in my responsibilities. The bottom line is that this kid will most likely never be a guitar player, in spite of having a fancy electric guitar. I won’t comment on the parenting methodology on display here.

But on the other hand, I had a kid start in early June who had just turned 10. I’ve seen him at the Daily Brew for years with his mom and it was obvious from the attention he paid to my playing that there was genuine interest. He is a great kid personality-wise and after only the second lesson my wife (who can hear my lessons from in the house) remarked at how well he was playing; she was amazed that it was only his second lesson, and told the mom so when they were leaving the lesson. His enthusiasm is so wonderful to see!

Also, the mom clearly loves her boy and while she does not coddle him she gives him plenty of positive reinforcement. I am so happy to have him as a student that last week I gave him a decent quality steel string guitar, padded gig bag and tuner to replace the nylon string beginner’s guitar he had been playing. Both the boy and the mom were thrilled and regardless of how long he stays with me I am 100% sure he will continue to play. This is a win for all of us and I was happy to do it.

I keep reminding all my students that playing the guitar – or any musical instrument for that matter – is peaks and valleys. When you reach the top of a mountain it’s likely you will spot another one in the distance. But it’s important to enjoy the view from the one you’ve just climbed. Those valleys don’t need to be failures, just places to rest and reflect a bit on mountains you’ve climbed in the past. If a piece of music seems insurmountable, put it aside for a while and play something you know well. Do this enough and you will be ready to start that climb again.

Time to pick up my guitar and practice. Keep focusing on the Big Picture even if my D-35 sounds like it’s stuffed with socks. Maybe if I change the strings….

Had an interesting conversation recently with a musician friend of mine regarding the playing of covers. He said: “You know, putting your own spin on a song is not a bad thing. I bet if the original artist heard someone doing a note-for-note version of their song they would not be nearly as impressed as hearing someone doing things with it….”

And I agree. Up to a point, anyway. Why not be a bit creative and new? Very few songs are so sacrosanct that they can’t lend themselves to interpretation. Best of all, you may find that embellishments spur the creative process and can be downright fun! Here are some examples and suggestions.

First of all, a bit of a qualifier: I firmly believe that finished product should bear at least some resemblance to the original. That is – the listener should not have to work so hard in their listening that they have no idea what the song is.

A year or so ago I stumbled upon an arrangement of the Van Morrison classic “Crazy Love” done by a Canadian singer/songwriter named Harry Manx. He changed the song pretty substantially by slowing it down and playing slide guitar with only minimal backup of very subtle bass and drums. To me, the emotional impact of the song was really ramped up and that’s not a dis of Van’s original. I learned it (albeit on a straight acoustic, not slide) and it fits my playing and singing perfectly and I almost always get compliments from listeners when I play it. It’s not complex or challenging but the beauty of the song itself stands, a perfect example of how to “make a song your own” and still stay true to the original.

Recently I came up with my own arrangement of the old blues classic, “How Long Blues.” I first heard that song played by Hot Tuna many years ago and replicated their arrangement for as long as I’ve been playing it. But I had been fooling around with a more New Orleans/piano type blues chord sequence and suddenly it occurred to me that it would be perfect for this song. Instead of staying on the I chord (E7) for two full measures I now play one measure of E7 followed by one measure of G#7. Then, instead of sticking on the following IV chord (A7) for two full measures I play one measure of A7 (fifth position) followed by a measure of F#7. Then I stick to the final four measures of one measure E7, one measure B7, half measure E7, half measure A7, half measure E7, half measure B7. If the spirit moves me and I want to “sweeten” it up a bit I will occasionally substitute a straight E Major (or E6) for the E7, and A Major for the A7.

This was fun and sounded good so I thought – what the heck, how about a bridge that is substantially different than the verse chords? I came up with something that incorporates a C#m (relative minor of the I chord) and an Edim7 with a little six-note lick at the end, then returning to the last four measures of the original verse chords. It works and I think it sounds pretty darn cool and for the casual listener who’s not steeped in the I-IV-V blues format (and may find it boring) there is a lot more “meat on the bones.” Is it blues, really? Hell, I don’t know. Nor do I care. All I know is it’s recharged my interest in this old blues chestnut.

How can you add some interest to songs you know without being too radical? There are many ways but here are a few that work.

Change the key. This is really all you’re doing when you use a capo, but why not transpose the song with new chord voicings entirely? This may or may not work depending upon the complexity and ease of playing the chords but in the process you may discover little things like bass lines that were impossible to play in the original key.

Chord substitutions. In jazz there is an unwritten rule that you should never stay on ANY chord more than two beats, even if the original song calls for a longer amount of time on a chord. Different inversions or “voicings” of a chord work even in songs that are not jazz. Learn at least the triads of all the primary Major and minor chords all the way up the neck, then try to use one or more of them beyond a chord is meant to be played for long time. Sometimes you can juice up the original chords by using slightly more complex versions. I like to substitute things like Major 6, Major 9 and 6/9’s for straight major chords if I think they sound appropriate. With minors I frequently substitute a min7 for the straight minor, or even a min7+9 sometimes. Let your ear guide you on any substitutions you try. I’ll bet you discover some cool stuff!

Tempo changes. This is a bit dangerous as you are now entering the realm of the rhythmic connection between the listener and player. Some songs are just expected to be played at a certain speed and a jarring diversion can have a negative result. It’s been my experience that a song that is pretty fast lends itself to being slowed down a bit, much more than the opposite. But it’s worth a try. My advice if you’re going to try a tempo change is to practice it with a metronome because you will most likely find that your musical brain just wants to hear the original tempo. And before long you find yourself returning to that!

Creative intros and outros. Don’t be too long with these but remember that just like the verse and chorus of the original song there is nowhere that it says the intro and outro have to be exactly like what you hear in the original. It can be something as simple at a single-note quote of the melody, or a harmonized piece of the melody. In jazz, intros are often the changes of the bridge or chorus rather than the chord sequence of a verse. This can be done with any type of music and can sound really interesting.

These are just a few ideas. I’m sure you can come up with some of your own. Just keep an open mind. It’s easy to slip into the same-old, same-old way of playing songs. We’re all guilty of that! If you find yourself getting bored with what you’re playing, though – try to look at those tried and true songs from a fresh perspective. The result will be interesting and satisfying, promise!